Creativity dead?

A lot of the time I think of art and wonder what else there is to do. I wonder if most everything has been tried and put out before and if creativity is something that can and has run dry. I wonder these things but then come to a better question. If this is true, if art is nothing but repetition and imitation of what has already been achieved and created by artists dating back to the dawn of time, then why do people still care? Why do modern art pieces sell for more money than most can imagine and why are modern day artists still held in such high esteem among critics who are knowledgeable in every stage of art to ever exist. I think the answer is simple. I think most misunderstand the connection and relationship that art and creativity have. Art is not something represented by creativeness and uniqueness. It is representative instead of the time and place in which it was created. Art is a reflection of cultures, thoughts, and emotions that all come together to derive a feeling of awareness as to what the artist is creating and a connection as to the meaning and point of the piece. With this theory, creativity is not so much a measurement of how unique a piece of art is but rather how well the artist has taken the world that they live in and reflected it onto a canvas, photo, or other type of artistic medium.
In the following pictures, Desiree Palmen, a dutch artist, perfectly demonstrates that ability and gives us a good look at what most would agree to be representative of the world we live in today. She cleverly uses the illusion of making people invisible in her pictures, both signifying our loss of identity in a world controlled by surveillance cameras and a loss of privacy, as well as "responding to a wish to disappear". Her works are easy to relate and identify with and are also beautiful to look at as you can see below.



But then the "real" question comes in. Is it creative? Has anyone before in the history of the world ever done something similar or the same and if so do her works then matter at all? I think the answer quite simply is, who cares? It seems more logical to worry less about whether or not this is creative or not, which in my opinion it most certainly is, and more on how closely it reflects the the world we live in. We are all affected by the messages in Palmen's works and should appreciate them for that point and that point alone. Her ability alone to illustrate such a vital piece of this point in time makes her not only a good artist, not only a clever artist, but a creative one.
It is impossible to talk about art without some sort of difference in opinions. After all, art is based off perception and not regulations which explains why different people have different tastes and why something beautiful to one eye can be just as hideous to the next. But if we can agree somewhat on at least one point, let it be that creativity is, in fact, not dead. Yes it is constantly adapting and yes it is subject to some room for dispute but to say that it is dead is simply misunderstanding its place in the world of art and its relationships to the world in which it represents.
For more of Desiree Palmen's works:
CLICK HERE

-JOSHUA